


Every Breath You Take

by jbebout1295



Series: What I Think Happened After the Door Closed (3-Part Short) [1]
Category: Moonlight (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:34:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24901660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jbebout1295/pseuds/jbebout1295
Summary: Part one of my version of an “after the door closed” story - follows the conclusion of the last episode of the tv series.
Series: What I Think Happened After the Door Closed (3-Part Short) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801885
Kudos: 2





	Every Breath You Take

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story outside the Moonlight VS3 universe, so I'm on my own for the first time. Scary! 😟 Any and all comments will be greatly appreciated! I know that everyone and their grandma has written an "after the door closed” story, and I certainly didn't plan to write one, but you go where the muse takes you. I hope you enjoy my take on it.

**Every Breath You Take (Part 1 of 3 of “What I Think Happened After the Door Closed”)**

He heard Beth say it, didn’t he?

“I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

After Beth’s devastating declaration, Mick had escaped to the hallway and was currently banging his head against the wall. Did that really just happen? Did he really just lose Beth? _His_ Beth? Did he just lose his reason for living, the love of his life? How had it even come to this? The questions swirled through his brain, making him feel dizzy. He shook his head. No, this couldn’t happen. It just couldn’t. He wouldn’t let it. He couldn’t give up on Beth. He had to at least try.

Storming back into her apartment, he made his case to Beth, although he couldn’t even tell you what words he’d said to her. He was going on instinct—just saying what was in his heart, hoping and praying it would reach her. The next thing he knew, she was quizzing him on what she was wearing that night in the fountain. He didn’t have to think too hard to remember it. That moment would be indelibly etched into his brain forever.

“Blue jeans, white striped shirt, cream jacket.”

“What about my shoes?”

Mick couldn’t help but smile a little as he said, “You were barefoot.”

“How can you remember that?” she asked, a look of wonder on her beautiful face.

”Because I love you.”

Before Mick could even process what was happening, Beth was in his arms and they were kissing passionately as he reached behind him to close the door. The kiss seemed to go on and on, which was just fine with Mick. The only reason he’d stopped at all was because he’d sensed Beth’s need to breathe.

He looked down into her eyes, which were now wet with unshed tears, and he could see her love for him shining there. She looked like she was working up the nerve to say something to him.

 _This is it_ , he thought. _Now she’s going to tell me she loves me… finally_. And as she opened her mouth to speak, Mick couldn’t help but lean in a little closer, holding his breath, and trying to memorize everything about the moment.

Beth seemed to struggle a little with the words. “Mick, I… err...”

“Beth, it’s ok. I love you. Just say whatever you feel,” he encouraged.

Beth nodded, looked down for a second, then stared deeply into his eyes as she said with all the seriousness she could muster, “Shit, Mick. We’re really fucked then, because I love you too.”

Mick stared at her stupefied for a second, before barking out an incredulous laugh. “Well gee honey, I always dreamed the moment you told me you loved me would be just like this… only I always thought there would be a ‘Goddamn it Mick’ in there somewhere before you told me we were completely fucked.”

Beth laughed despite herself, then looked up at Mick rather timidly. “I didn’t say we were _completely_ fucked,” she corrected.

“Oh, my mistake milady. The gentleman begs your forgiveness,” he said, as he bowed low to her.

Beth good naturedly swatted him on the back of the head. “Ok. That’s quite enough of that, Sir Galahad. I think we’ve established I’m not exactly a fair maiden… more like a foul-mouthed bar wench by the sound of it. I’m sorry, Mick. I didn’t mean to ruin the moment. I really just meant that we were going to have so many obstacles to overcome, because the same issues that had us both running scared before—which was just a few minutes ago, by the way—are still there. The only thing that’s changed is that we finally found the courage to admit we love each other. That means the running away option is off the table now, and we have no choice but to face every one of those obstacles.”

Beth, who until now had been mostly looking at her feet instead of at Mick, hazarded a quick sideways glance at him—no doubt to gauge how he was taking her explanation so far, and visibly startled at the scene before her. Although he knew how it must look to her, he just couldn’t help himself. Mick was leaning against the wall with arms crossed, goofy grin on his face, baby fangs resting on his bottom lip, and a far away look in his eyes—which by then were a brilliant ice blue. He’d barely noticed when Beth had stopped talking. She cleared her throat loudly to get his attention… as if she could ever lose it.

“Hey you... fang boy! Helloooo? Kinda pouring my heart out to you over here. Where were you? And why are you halfway to vampville?”

Mick closed his eyes, and quickly got himself back under control. Smiling sheepishly, he looked over at Beth, “Uh, sorry. I was listening. I really was, but I kinda got hung up near the beginning of your speech. What can I say? You had me at lusty bar wench.”

“I believe I actually said foul-mouthed bar wench,” Beth replied, unable to hide her smirk.

“Yes, but it was so much more fun to imagine you as a lusty bar wench. Once I got that picture in my head… honestly, I was lost.”

Beth was clearly trying to hide her smile, and the blush that had immediately colored her cheeks. She seemed to be off in her own world, and Mick couldn’t help but wonder if she was thinking the same thing he was at that moment. If just imagining her as a lusty bar wench could make him get his vamp on like that, what it was going to be like when they actually got physical? He could feel his vampire beginning to push to the surface again at the thought, so he quickly pushed it down before he completely lost control.

“Beth. Beth! Now, who’s off in their own world?” Mick asked, chuckling.

“Sorry, I’m just not quite myself tonight, I think. I had a little wine earlier, and then so much has happened. I guess maybe I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

“I completely understand. I’m sorry I wasn’t more attentive before. Please, continue. I really want to hear your thoughts. They’re important to me, Beth. Everything about you is important to me.”

“Are you sure? I told you I had some wine, and I tend to ramble when I drink.”

Beth bit her plump bottom lip as she looked at him, appearing slightly unsure as to what his answer might be. And it was everything Mick could do not to grab that lip with his own teeth. But he pulled it together—barely—before replying to her. “Please… ramble away, love. I’m all ears.”

“Well, I was really just apologizing for ruining your ‘I love you’ moment. I didn’t mean to. Really, I didn’t. In my admittedly crude way—obviously not my finest moment—I was simply trying to make the point that now we’re in this, no matter what comes our way. And, I think it’s safe to say we both know there’s a very good chance of a lot of really bad shit coming our way. Damn it! I did it again! See, that’s what I meant about ruining the moment for you, Mick. The first time someone tells you they love you, it shouldn’t be laced with profanities. I just love you so much! I wanted to do it right, and now I’ve fucked it all up! Again! Damn it! I give up!” 

Exasperated and obviously embarrassed, Beth literally collapsed onto the couch and moaned, “I’ve had a lot of wine tonight, Mick.”

He smiled down at her fondly. “I know, baby. It’s ok.”

Mick kneeled down in front of her, grasping her small, delicate, wonderfully soft hands with his large calloused fingers—which were still slightly sooty from Emma and Jackson’s final stand together earlier in the evening—and spoke his heart to her.

“Beth, you didn’t ruin anything for me. Please trust me on that, ok? Hearing those three little words come from your lips, and knowing that they’re actually meant for me? Well, there’s just no wrong way for that to happen, sweetheart. Whatever obstacles are to come, we will face them together. You make me a stronger man just by loving me, Beth. And another thing… you, my dear, most definitely _are_ the fairest of all maidens to me, and you always will be no matter what. You could swear like the most foul-mouthed bar wench on the planet, and you would still be the loveliest creature—inside and out—that I have ever had the good fortune to behold.”

“Oh Mick, I feel the same way about you. Well, not the fair maiden stuff obviously, but you know what I mean. See… rambling. I told you. What I mean is... Mick, you are truly the best man I have ever known, and I love you for all that you are... the man _and_ the vampire. They are each a part of you, and every part of you is so beautiful to me. Even the things in your past that you won’t speak about—except to say that you carry tremendous amounts of guilt over them and want to make up for them—they too have helped to shape you into the wonderful loving man that you are today. Nothing you have ever said or done could change my love for you. I want you to know that, to believe it… and most of all to feel it.”

Mick had a hard time holding back the tears as Beth spoke about the depth of her feelings for him. It was more than he’d expected, and in his mind, perhaps more than he deserved. It was so hard for him to believe that she could love that part of him that he, himself, had detested for so many years. He knew Beth was telling him the truth though, and it meant more to him than he could ever express to her. And he knew she understood that. There was no need to vocalize it. She would see it in his eyes, and he made sure she felt it in the kiss that followed, as he drew her into his arms once again. This time, breathing be damned! He would kiss her senseless, pouring all his love and his need for her into that one kiss, until she told him to stop.

And she did eventually tell him to stop, right before she nearly passed out. Mick lovingly held her in his arms, as she sat on his lap with her head resting on his shoulder. He could feel her soft breath brushing over his cheek, and he felt content for the first time in a very long while—maybe ever… since his turning, at least. What was unfortunately also abundantly clear was that in order to keep Beth safe, he was going to have to be the one to set the boundaries in their relationship. He would not compromise on her safety.

That marathon kiss that Beth was currently recovering from was a prime example—and although it was definitely a kiss like he had never before experienced in his almost 90 years on the planet—it also taught him a valuable lesson. He couldn’t ever let her do that again. He had to stay in better control than that. If he left it up to her, this phenomenal woman—that he surely didn’t deserve—would rather pass out from lack of oxygen than to stop kissing him. _God, I love her for that._ But, he couldn’t allow it to happen again, just the same.

Beth roused slightly, lifting her heavy-lidded baby blues to deeply gaze into Mick’s hazel eyes, and softly smiled. “I’m still a little tired right now, but don’t you go anywhere mister. When I open my eyes again, I want the first thing I see to be you.”

“No arguments here,” Mick said. “There’s no place I’d rather be.”

“Good, because I’ve got plans for you. Your lusty bar wench may make an appearance after all,” she purred in her sexiest voice—losing a little of the effect as she yawned on the last word—before quietly drifting off to sleep.

As he stared down at his sleeping Beth, he couldn’t help but think _What does she see in me?_ _She thinks I’m her guardian angel, when it is really she who saved me… from myself, and from an eternity of abysmal loneliness that would surely have killed anything left of the man that she now loves—leaving behind only the monster within and an eternal darkness. She is the light that allows the man to keep the monster at bay, and I will love her with all of my undead heart and protect her for all eternity… or for however long she allows me to walk in the light of her soul_.

“Don’t worry, Beth,” Mick whispered. “I’ll be right here. I’ve got plans for you too. I don’t know how I got lucky enough for you to fall in love with me, but I’m definitely going to show you every minute from here on just how grateful I am for it.”

_TBC_


End file.
